United Nations A/HRC/34/70 General Assembly Distr.: General 13 April 2017 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-fourth session 27 February-24 March 2017 Agenda item 7 Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967* Note by the Secretariat The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/2 A and Human Rights Council resolution 5/1. In it, the Special Rapporteur examines the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with a particular emphasis on the role and challenges faced by human rights defenders. * The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent developments. GE.17-05979(E) A/HRC/34/70 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the first submitted by the current Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/2 A and Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, having assumed his mandate on 1 May 2016.1 He is the seventh Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. 2. The Special Rapporteur would like to draw attention once again to the fact that he has not been granted access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, nor have his requests to meet with the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations been accepted. The Special Rapporteur notes that an open dialogue among all parties is essential for the protection and promotion of human rights. In addition, he emphasizes that access to the territory is an important component that helps in the development of a comprehensive understanding of the situation. While he notes that reliance on the exemplary work of a number of experienced and extremely competent civil society groups provides an excellent basis for his work, he laments being unable to meet many of those carrying out this work, due to his exclusion from the territory and the difficulties those individuals often face when seeking to obtain exit permits from the Israeli authorities, particularly from Gaza. 3. The present report is based primarily on written submissions and consultations with civil society representatives, victims, witnesses and United Nations representatives. The Special Rapporteur undertook his first mission to the region, to Amman, from 10 to 15 July 2016. In addition, throughout December 2016 he held consultations with civil society by videoconference and received a number of written submissions, in particular related to the work of human rights defenders. 4. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by Israel.2 As the occupying Power, Israel has the legal obligation to ensure respect for and protection of the rights of Palestinians within its control.3 The mandate of the Special Rapporteur thus focuses on the responsibilities of the occupying Power, although he notes that human rights violations by any State party or non- State actors are deplorable and will only hinder the prospects for peace. 5. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his appreciation for the full cooperation with his mandate extended by the Government of the State of Palestine. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to extend his thanks once again to all those who travelled to Amman in July 2016 to meet with him and to those who were unable to travel but made written or oral submissions. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the essential work being done and efforts undertaken by such groups to create an environment in which human rights are respected and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are not committed with impunity and without witnesses. The Special Rapporteur will support that work as much as possible. 6. The present report is set out in two parts. First, it provides an overview of the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This discussion, while not exhaustive, aims to highlight those human rights concerns the Special Rapporteur has identified as particularly pressing. 7. In the second part of the report, the Special Rapporteur examines the work of human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, both the growing challenges they 1 In October 2016, he also submitted a report to the General Assembly (A/71/554). 2 As specified in the mandate of the Special Rapporteur set out in resolution 1993/2. 3 See Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), art. 47. 2 A/HRC/34/70 face and the critical work they do in attempting to bring justice to an environment in which human rights are increasingly subverted by a prolonged occupation soon to reach half a century. II. Current human rights situation 8. Reports of recurring, persistent human rights violations, including excessive use of force, collective punishment, forced displacement and restrictions on the freedom of movement, have been reported throughout 2016 (see A/71/554). The backdrop against which all of this has occurred is one of what appears to be increasingly extreme rhetoric from Israeli political and government leaders. Legislation related to the legalization of outposts suggests an ever-shrinking opportunity for Palestinians to realize their right to self- determination. The international community, while seeking to spur the peace process, continues to fail to place human rights at the centre of its efforts. A. Settlements 9. On 23 December 2016 in resolution 2334 (2016), the Security Council reaffirmed that the establishment of settlements in the West Bank was a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. Less than a month after the passage of that resolution, the Government of Israel announced plans for roughly 6,000 new settlement units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It was proposed that several of those units would be built outside the current settlement blocs.4 Approvals of settlement units in 2016 were limited in size to the hundreds, not thousands as in the most recent announcements. France noted in its condemnation of the announcement of the new units that the amount announced in the space of a week in 2017 was double the total number of units approved in 2016.5 In addition, the second half of 2016 saw a year-end uptick in new construction over the previous two years.6 10. Along with the announcement of new settlement construction have come reports of increasing incidents of demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. As of late January 2017, a total of 105 demolitions had been recorded in Area C and 14 in East Jerusalem since the start of the year.7 Demolitions in 2016 in the entirety of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, totalled 1,093, 8 which is the highest number recorded since the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began collecting the data in 2009.9 The demolitions in 2016 displaced 1,593 Palestinians and negatively affected the livelihoods of 7,101 others.10 Demolitions, threats of demolition and lack of protection from demolition all contribute to the creation of a coercive environment, in which people might feel that they have no choice but to leave their land and their homes (see A/HRC/31/43, para. 46). The risk of forcible transfer resulting from the coercive environment is particularly high among Bedouin communities in Area C (see A/71/355, para. 22). 11. February 2017 saw the passage of controversial legislation in the Knesset that legalized the confiscation of private Palestinian land. The so-called regularization bill legalizes roughly 3,000 housing units built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank, 4 Gili Cohen, “Israel approves thousands of new settler homes ahead of West Bank outpost’s evacuation,” Haaretz, 21 March 2017; statement by the Special Rapporteur, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21141&LangID=E. 5 Statement by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, available from http:// franceintheus.org/IMG/html/briefing/2017/DDB-2017-02-01.html. 6 See: http://peacenow.org.il/en/40-increase-construction-starts-west-bank-settlements-2016. 7 See www.ochaopt.org/content/protection-civilians-weekly-report-10-23-january-2017. 8 Ibid. 9 See www.ochaopt.org/content/record-number-demolitions-2016-casualty-toll-declines. 10 Ibid. 3 A/HRC/34/70 which were previously considered illegal even under Israeli law. In 16 of the outposts affected, Palestinian landowners have successfully challenged the settlers’ presence on the land in Israeli courts, which have issued demolition orders against the settlers’ homes. However, those orders have yet to be implemented and under the new law implementation of the orders will be frozen for a year.11 12. The new legislation has triggered condemnation from the international community, with a spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office in Germany stating that its confidence in the “Israeli Government’s commitment to the two-state solution has been profoundly shaken” and the High Representative of the European Union noting that the law “would further entrench a one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation and conflict”.12 The spokesperson for the Secretary-General noted deep regret at the passage of the law, warning of far-reaching legal consequences for Israel and insisting on the need to avoid any actions that would derail the two-State solution.